Supporting frame for movable cable belt conveyors



Oct. 7, 1969 F. FERLEMANN 3,471,004

SUPPORTING FRAME FOR MOVABLE CABLE BELT CONVEYORS Filed Sept.- 1, 1967 lmaw r0 Fritz Ferlemann United States Patent 3,471,004 SUPPORTING FRAME FOR MOVABLE CABLE BELT CONVEYORS Fritz Ferlemann, 31/33 Kronenstrasse,

4 Dusseldorf 1, Germany Filed Sept. 1, 1967, Ser. No. 665,057 Int. Cl. B65g 15/08 U.S. 'Cl. 198-192 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention The present invention relates to supporting frames for movable cable belt conveyors.

The trend in the development of transport plants, especially in the field of belt conveyors, is directed to the use of more light-weight constructional elements which should be also less affected by wear. It is known practice to use so-called suspended straight idlers for the conveyor belt instead of the known rigid supporting constructions for the straight idlers. In this case steel ropes or cables or similar elements are used as suspension means for the idlers carrying the belt. The further development of conveyor belts shows that the rigid beams on both sides of the conveyor belt which carry the pairs of suspended idlers are being replaced by steel cables or ropes being led on both sides of the belt in certain distances by corresponding supporting frames. This means a considerable reduction in costly material.

Nowadays there is a tendency to use the above mentioned transport means which until now were only used under stationary conditions, also for movable belt conveyors, for example in the open work mining industry. Movable belt conveyors of this type are equipped with supporting frames arranged on corresponding sleepers. A rail is mounted on these sleepers on one side of the belt to effect the necessary moving of the belt conveyor in side direction. The known supporting frames of this type which carry the above mentioned steel cables or ropes arranged on both sides of the belt for the support of the suspended pairs of idlers, stand with their main beams in a vertical plane in relation to the sleepers. In most cases to obtain a better rigidity of the supporting construction, inclined bars are arranged on both sides.

However, the introduction of the above mentioned elements being in use for stationary cable belt conveyors, for movable supporting frames of belt conveyors meets certain difliculties considering the fact that under normal conditions in the case of cable belt conveyors the strain or load of the vertical supporting frames which carry the cables or ropes on both sides of the belt is effected by a considerable stress component in horizontal direction. In the case of vertical arrangement of the supporting beams this results in considerable stress owing to the induced moments which, on the other hand, have a great influence on the heavier dimensions of these parts which results in higher weight for these parts of the plant. The higher weight of the construction has a considerable influence on the power required for the process 3,471,004 Patented Oct. 7, 1969 ice of moving said conveyor belt sidewards. Furthermore, of great importance is the fact that when using movable supporting frames, a support consisting of two sleepers will be necessary.

The purpose of my invention is the improvement of the known constructions and to avoid the disadvantages described in the operation of movable cable belt conveyors. The solution of this problem is characterized by the main feature that the lower ends of the lower beams of the supporting frame connecting the sleepers are arranged at a certain angle in relation to the vertical plane so that its lower ends are directed towards the middle of the sleepers. Also, the supporting frame is arranged so that its plane is parallel to the middle of the belt conveyor. With such an arrangement it is possible to diminish the peak moment arising in the lower ends of the lower beams which means a considerable advantage in comparison to the vertical arrangement of these supporting frames. The supporting plates commonly required for the additional side support of the vertical beams of the supporting frames, are no longer necessary which means a considerable savings in costs. Furthermore, the moment stress of the sleepers themselves will be less.

Of great importance is the further constructional feature that owing tothe angle of the lower ends of the lower beams it is possible to arrange the rail somewhat nearer to the middle of the belt, even under consideration of the free space being necessary for the handling of the moving apparatus for moving the supporting frames together with the sleepers and the conveyor belt. Thus I obtain a further advantage because only shorter sleepers are required which has a considerable influence on the cost of such conveyor plants. The possibility of having shorter sleepers is especially useful with regard to the side opposite the rail, i.e. on the other side of the conveyor belt taking into account the allowable specific ground pressure. However, there is not only a saving in weight owing to the shorter sleepers, but also a considerable decrease in stress of the supporting frames as a whole because of the shortening of the moment lever between the rail and the opposite end of the sleeper. Strain and stress in the plane of the sleepers arising in the process of moving the conveyor belt sidewards need not be taken over by additional jointing elements, bars, or higher rigidity of the construction, as it used to be in the case of the known vertical supporting frames. In comparison to this the supporting frames according to my invention form in combination with the sleepers a complete frame-unit.

Of great importance is the further feature that both the sleepers, supporting frames, and beams are formed of hollow girders and box beams as shown in the drawings which results in an optimal layout of the construction, apart from other advantages when using such hollow beams, e.g. better painting of the surfaces, avoiding of fouling in any corners, and also less possibilities as to corrosion.

Further features of my invention will be hereinafter specified in detail in the description and drawings and succinctly set forth in the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a supporting frame embodying the present invention. The view also shows a cross section of a movable cable belt conveyor with the lower part and upper part of the conveyor belt.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the supporting frame of FIG. 1 showing the lower and upper beams of the supporting frame in combination with the sleepers and the cables on both sides.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the supporting frame of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 3, showing another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the numerals in the drawings, 1 indicates the sleepers upon which the supporting side frames are arranged. These lower beams 2 connect the corresponding sleepers 1, and are inclined at a certain angle in relation to the vertical plane so that the lower ends of the lower beams 2 are directed to the middle of the sleepers. These lower beams 2 consist of hollow beams, especially of squared section.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper portion of the supporting frame comprises beam 3 arranged vertically or at a slight angle towards the middle of the conveyor belt. On the upper end of these upper beams 3 there are means provided for fastening the carrying or supporting cables 4 on both sides of the belt conveyor which serve for the suspension of the upper suspended pairs of idlers 5. Correspondingly at the lower end of the upper beam 3 and at the top of the lower beams 2 there is provided a suspension of the lower suspended pairs of idlers 7. On one side of the sleepers is arranged the rail 8 which is designed for moving the belt conveyor laterally.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 4 shows clearly in comparison to FIG. 3 that the head of the lower beams 2 is relatively wide and made in the form of a traverse beam 9 which results in a greater resistance of any forces and moments that may be produced. Furthermore, the welding of the lower beam 2 to the sleepers 1 will be accomplished in a better and simpler manner.

What I claim is:

1. A supporting frame for a conveyor belt comprising a pair of laterally spaced side frames supporting therebetween a vertically spaced pair of conveyor belt idler rolls, each of said side frames having an upper portion slightly inwardly inclined from the vertical and a lower beam portion inclined inwardly at a substantial angle to the vertical to minimize the turning moment on the side frames from the load of the conveyor, and a lower horizontal sleeper support to which the lower inclined ends of said pair of frames are fixed.

2. A supporting frame as defined in claim 1 in which said lower beam portion of said side frame has a substantially inverted V shape, being fixed to said horizontal sleeper support at the open portion of the V and fixed to said upper beam portion at the substantially closed end of the V shape.

3. A supporting frame as defined in claim 2 wherein said inverted V shape has a headpiece transversely extending between and fixed to the lower beam portion of said side frame at said substantially closed end of the V shape.

4. A supporting frame according to claim 1 comprising the lower of said pair of idler rolls being suspended between and joined to the junctions formed by said upper and lower beam portions of said pair of side frames.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,118,532 1/1964 Osgood 198-192 3,348,663 10/ 1967 Schmieder 198-192 FOREIGN PATENTS 29 1,5 13 4/ 1916 Germany. 662,200 4/ 1963 Canada. 908,727 10/ 1962 Great Britain.

EDWARD A. SROKA, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,471,004 October 7, 1969 Fritz Ferlemann It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 12, "beam" should read beams after "a" insert suspension means 6 for the line 20,

Signed and sealed this 21st day of April 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

